In a guest opinion piece in Sunday’s (4/7) Seattle Times, Ludovic Morlot writes, “As music director of the Seattle Symphony, I believe in the intrinsic power of the arts to enrich our lives, and that the influence of the arts can be substantial and transformative, especially for young people. Arts education promotes creativity, innovation, discipline and teamwork—skills necessary for career success in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. … But the reality is that most students, including our public-school students here in Seattle, receive almost no arts instruction. School districts throughout the state of Washington should provide ongoing exposure to the performing and visual arts in all public schools from K through 12. Furthermore, schools should adopt an integrated approach that promotes learning across disciplines, provides teachers with proper resources to successfully integrate arts into their curriculum and encourages students to actively engage in the arts. … In its own way, the Seattle Symphony is working to achieve a similar goal through a new program called LinkUp: Seattle Symphony. Through our partnership with the Seattle Public Schools, we are launching this new program to give students opportunities to exercise their curiosity and creativity through active classroom participation.”
Posted April 9, 2013
