Dear whomever this reaches,

In about 500 words, I will try to discuss with you a topic that has become a quiet battle. Whether you agree with me or not is unimportant, what will be important are the ideas and the history we review. And, although, I will not be able to fit the immeasurable amount of words and thoughts into this one piece, I hope the ones I do say are enough. I will not be using statistics or exact budget estimations to talk about music. How in anyway does that make sense in the first place? Music has always been a creation of the heart, not a calculator. With that being said, I am speaking to you with the perspective of a young artist with young dreams and a young heart.

Music is dying in schools, much like the rest of the arts. School boards are battling with the pros and cons of budget cuts in schools around the nation; fine arts classes are usually the first to bite the bullet when decisions are made. “There aren’t enough people involved” or “I will never have to use Shakespeare in my life” or “Making a career out of the Arts is a waste of time, especially because your shot would be one in a million” are all real excuses that I have heard when discussing the reasoning as to why fine arts programs should not be funded. Most teachers find music distracting to students and they don’t see why or how music in general is “progressive” for a child’s academics.

Let me start by saying this: taking the arts out of a child’s development is taking away the potential of a beautiful person. No matter who we are or who we will become, all of us started with a foolish imagination. As children, that is all we see: we see colors, we mimic musical pitches and we starve of boredom until we are given a piece of paper and a pencil. Children are allowed to see things most adults cannot imagine, and depriving them of that ability is just tarnishing a special gift.

Music defines people and builds “who they are” is a common fighting statement. I agree, but I see so much deeper than that. Music has had the ability to motivate and inspire movements of people all around the world for purposes of freedom and love and peace. Not only can it create an individual, it forms the entire idea of a nation. I mean, we sing our National Anthem, right? Music brings change and unity, it is a way to communicate without needing to know another language and a way fight without firing a single shot. I will never be able to understand how people look right through these programs and think “this is useless”. I cannot understand that.

Why aren’t arts programs that big? Because there are only so many students that are brave enough to perform in front of an audience. There are only so many students that develop their foolishness and create beautiful masterpieces or students that build sets out of scratch. Artist are a special breed. Just like athletes have their glory and academic geniuses have the IQs, we have our dreams.

If I have anything left to say, it’s a thank you. Not for reading, but for reminding me to never take my pathway for granted.

- Young artist.