Today, the value of the arts and the cultural toler-ance which is vital to the flourishing of new ideasis held in very low esteem by much of the leader-

ship of our country. How elseto explain the fact that manymusic education programs are in ruin across the nation?"wrote Recording Academy President Michael Greene lastyear,when NARAS joined forces with the National Asso-ciation of Music Merchants (NAMM) and the MusicEducators National Conference (MENC) to develop the"Music Makes A Difference" campaign and organize theNational Commission on Music Education.The Commission is a distinguished group ofmore than

40 educators, business leaders and "musical statesmen."These include Quincy Jones, Henry Mancini, GloriaEstefan, Whitney Houston, Billy Joel, Marilyn McCoo,Luciano Pavarotti, Itzhak Perlman, Andre Previn, GerardSchwarz, Emmylou Harris and Barbara Mandrell.The object of the Commission is to stress that national

goals for education must include the study of music andother arts for the sake of the nation's creative future."The freedom to create and dream ... the access to the

basic arts education, which every citizen of our country,regardless of economic background, has the right to ex-pect, are principles that we must protect," commentedGreene. "The school reform effort of the 1980stended togloss over the importance of music and other arts for awell-rounded education and many in the music and re-cording industry are concerned about that. The effort bythe National Commission for Music Education will affordmany of them an opportunity to speak to issueswe allhavea stake in."Greene cites some examples: in California the number

of students playing in high school bands and orchestraswas cut in half between 1982 and 1986 and 98 percent ofthe state's children are not involved in music at all."This is worse than lip service," he noted.Three major public forums were held last year on behalf

of the Commission and its Music Makes The Differenceprogr~m, in Los Angeles (where speakers included jazzartist Wynton Marsalis), Chicago, and Nashville, whereRosanne Cash commented 'I am an artist who lives in aworld that increasingly seems to devalue and limit artisticexpressions, and the world, to me, seems out of balance. "Research and testimony from the forums and from a

petition circulated nationwide, plus information receivedbythe Commission from other sources will form the basisof a report to be presented to the BushAdministration and

THE NATIONAL COMMISSION ON MUSIC EDUCATION

Congress as part of a National Symposium entitled"America's Culture At Risk." The Symposium takes placenext month inWashington and willcloselyexamine threemajor challenges confronting music education today:students at risk, cultural diversity and preparing childrenfor a globally competitive world.The Symposium isonly the beginning of the campaign.

Already in preparation are a number of public serviceannouncements by major music stars, a video that hasHenry Mancini addressing the problems of music edu-cation ("We have to retire the myth that saysmusic andthe other arts are a frill," he says), a workbook on howindividuals at the grass roots levels can get involved, andmore.'We have done a great deal during the past 12months,"

says Greene. "But we have only scratched the surfaceconcerning this important issue."Music Makes The Difference and the Commission

have a simple credo: that there can be no music withoutlearning, no education is complete without music.Music, in fact, makes the difference.

171