Music can help get a child back on track before it is too late. It can revive self-esteem, self-belief, feelings of inclusion and worthiness.    I should know.  I was one of those children that was lost, and got back on track because of threshold moments in music.

I wasn't the best student in some subjects, and often I was not taught according to my particular learning styles.  Inwardly, I felt in a daze, numb, inadequate, and pretending to know more than I did.  But when the fourth grade music teacher came into my class to sing with us, something magical stirred, and I felt alive and part of something amazing. 

In High School, I discovered the cello.  I was feeling directionless at the time.  I overheard the rumor that the orchestral conductor needed a cellist.  I shyly went up to him and volunteered to learn.  I did not even know what a cello sounded like or looked like, but I intuitively felt pushed towards this thing called "cello."  A week later the music department provided me an instrument and a teacher, and in the first lesson I discovered an innate gift for playing this beautiful instrument!  My entire life changed for the better at 15 years old, at a time when it was on very shaky ground.  The cello took me on a wonderful path and was my "door opener."  After music school, I discovered more creative gifts within me that have included a life time of singing, teaching, performing, recording, composing and writing.   

Music was my life saver, and gave me a sense of self-esteem, purpose, emotional and intellectual IQ, focus, concentration, inclusion, imagination, writing skills, social skills, dreams, passion, purpose, life!

There are many children out there in similar situations...simply not thriving.  Children need people that believe in them, and tools that can unlock hidden potentials. 

When I hear that music is being taken out of schools as an option to save money, it disturbs me enough to share my personal story with you in this issue. Please take a look at some of these videos to FEEL the power of music on children, and join me in doing everything you can to support music and the arts in schools, in libraries, and throughout the everyday pulse of living the symphony of life.