Why Orchestra?
“The theory of relativity occurred to me by intuition, and music is the driving force behind this intuition. My parents had me study the violin from the time I was six. My new discovery is the result of musical perception.”
— Albert Einstein, Theoretical Physicist
“I believe the foundation for any success I have had is derived more from my music education than my engineering study...I absolutely would not be where I am today without music education.”
— David Borland, Amazon Web Services Director of Machine Learning Acceleration
“It is in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough—it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing.”
— Steve Jobs, Apple Inc. Co-founder
Research-Based Facts (click to expand)
Student Performance
The College Entrance Examination Board found that students involved in public school music programs scored 107 points higher on the SATs than students with no participation. - Profiles of SAT and Achievement Test Takers, The College Board, compiled by the Music Educators National Conference (2002)
U.S. Department of Education data on more than 25,000 secondary school students found that students who report consistent high levels of involvement in instrumental music over the middle and high school years show "significantly higher levels of mathematics proficiency by grade 12." - U.S. Department of Education NELLS88 Database
Public Support and Access
According to a 2003 Gallup survey, 95 percent of Americans believe that music is a key component in a child's well-rounded education. - American Attitudes on Music, Music Making and Music Education, The Gallup Organization 2003
In spite of this public support and documented benefits, "only one in four eighth graders reported being asked to sing or play a music instrument at least once a week." -1998 NAEP Assessment
Life Skills
Arts involvement teaches children many skills necessary to succeed in life, including problem solving and decision making, building self-confidence and self-discipline, the ability to imagine what might be and to accept responsibility for it, teamwork, the development of informed perception, and articulating a vision. - Compiled from various research documents and reports
Secondary students who participated in band or orchestra reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances (alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs). - Texas Commission on Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Houston Chronicle, January 11, 1998
Scientific Research
A research team reports that early music training dramatically enhancing children's abstract reasoning skills. These findings indicate that music uniquely enhances higher brain functions required for mathematics, chess, science and engineering. - From Neurological Research, Feb 28, 1997; Frances Rauscher, Ph.D., Gordon Shaw, Ph.D, University of California, Irvine
A two-year Swiss study involving 1,200 children in 50 schools showed that students involved in the music program were better at languages, learned to read more easily, showed an improved social climate, showed more enjoyment in school, and had a lower level of stress than non-music students. -Weber, E.W., Spychiger, M. & Patry, J.L. (1993)