We want peace and we want it fast

"We're on the eve of destruction my friends / We are about to go too far / Politicians think that war is the way / But we know that love has the power / We want peace, we want it / Yes we want peace, we want it / Yes we want peace / And we want it fast" -- Lenny Kravitz

Stories for Peace

"It is not the world that needs peace; it is people. When people in the world are at peace within, the world will be at peace" -- Prem Rawat

Ukuleles For Peace

George Hinchliffe of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain visits Ukuleles for Peace, an Israeli charity founded by musician Paul Moore that breaks down barriers between the country's Jewish and Arab communities via a children's ukulele orchestra.

Kaleidoscope Paint for Peace

Paint for Peace opens on Thursday September 18th, 2014. This project is championed by the KALEIDOSCOPE ARTS FOUNDATION, the first collective guild in Bermuda for the creation and teaching of art in an environment that is inspiring and accessible to the entire community.
Help raise funds for this foundation, empower our children through the arts!
-- Read about Paint for Peace on BDA SUN

Paint for Peace Art Exhibit 
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 18th (for 3 weeks)
The Bermuda Society of the Arts, City Hall, Hamilton
www.bsoa.bm

Why The Arts Matter

When school budgets are tight, art programs often find themselves on the chopping block. Today's definition of arts education has evolved considerably from what it once was. Today's art programs encompass a wide array of disciplines — from fine arts to digital media, from music to landscape architecture — and are encouraging creative thinking, problem solving, and healthy emotional development, among other things. In fact, studies show that students who have strong exposure to the arts do better academically and are more satisfied in school, making art education a vital component in any well-rounded curriculum. This Nebraska Loves Public Schools film looks at various art programs across the state and the positive impact they have on thousands of public school students each year. From elementary-age kids learning to ballroom dance to slam poetry competitions and creative music education, see how children benefit when schools make the arts matter.
Great documentary, worth watching.
-- Watch TRAILER

Wise words from Australia

"Art teaches students to think for themselves, to undertake their own research, it helps them understand why they do things, how they do things and how to communicate this to a wide audience"
New Australian research has identified the value of participating in arts experiences in school. The study is based on 643 primary and secondary school students from 15 schools over the course of two years.
-- video uploaded by ACARA (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority)
-- study reference here

Art in Schools

Rafael López is an internationally recognized illustrator and artist. His work is a fusion of strong graphic style and magical symbolism. Growing up in Mexico City he was immersed in the rich cultural heritage and native color of street life. Influenced by Mexican surrealism, dichos and myths, he developed a style with roots in these traditions. In 2012 and 2008, he was selected by the Obama/Biden campaign to create two official posters at Artists for Obama called Estamos Unidos and Voz Unida. Here Rafael gives a passionate defense in favor of maintaing art programs in schools.

What peace means to Syrian refugee children

"Peace is if everyone goes back to their homes and are happy. It is better than staying here. We will go back and rebuild Syria. I will play with my friends there and start having a life again, a country, a real country, my country"
"Leaders of the World can you put an end to the blockade? Because we can't stay here anymore. We want to return home. Put an end to this conflict. Martyrs are dying. And the children are the innocent ones".
More than 8 million Syrians have been displaced by ongoing fighting in their country — 6.5 million within Syria, and about 2.3 million as refugees in neighboring countries. Among them are countless children whose hopes, dreams, and ways of life have been put on hold indefinitely.
They’ve been forced to quit school and flee their homes — in many cases, with little more than the clothes on their backs.
These children each have unique stories, and they still have visions for a brighter future.
Watch the video below to hear from some of them as they speak to leaders who are discussing the future of their home country. As the conflict in Syria enters its third year, an entire generation of affected children hangs in the balance. Their voices cry out to be heard. Extremely touching.
-- go to CRYING FOR THEIR COUNTRY

Inspiring children through the Arts

We'll need creative thinkers to deal with the challenges of the 21st century. But the arts are being crowded out of our schools by testing and choked off by budget cuts. To help make sure the next generation has the imagination to improve the world, Inner City Arts is giving kids a canvas in Los Angeles's Skid Row neighbourhood.



Below a short film produced, shot and edited by Inner-City Arts' documentary film students which explores the magic of creativity and the importance of arts education.




ICA PSA 2014 from Elliot Montague on Vimeo.



PSA PHOTO 2014 from Elliot Montague on Vimeo.

Music in schools

“Sometimes, it’s hard not to smile. Like, every time when I finish school and I come into Harmony, when I just hit that first note, it makes me smile.” – J. Deshommes, Harmony Program violin student
“I can’t imagine my life without music, especially on my violin. Me and my violin is, like, best friends.” – Lexy Ramkissoon, Harmony Program violin student

Serving mostly low-income children in New York City, an innovative music education program called Harmony provides free instruments and daily music lessons to children in third through sixth grades. Correspondent John Merrow reports on this arts program changing lives in public schools, based on a system developed in Venezuela, called El Sistema. For 36 years, El Sistema has inspired children to stay in school by giving them free instruments and three to four hours of music instruction every day -- read here

Let's Make World Peace

Students from St. Francis French Immersion Catholic School collaborated with students at Rumney Primary School in Cardiff, Wales in recording the song "Let's Make World Peace". The Sault Ste. Marie school performed the inspirational song at the city's Remembrance Day ceremony on November 11, 2013. Cool.



Original song 'Let's Make World Peace' written and performed by the Rumney Primary School Choir. This is one of the ten schools whose students benefited from a fully funded song-writing project called 'Project K' promoting peace.



About the collaborative project

Life Just Isn't - Peace is a Choice

Fifth and sixth graders from Princeton Friends School present a moving 60 second PSA about the choices we make in life. Bridge Film Festival entry 2010. Winner of Judges Choice Award in PSA category, as well as the winner of The Spirit of the Festival Award.
What is really important in life? It's time children teach us a lesson....

How important is music education?

...That's the question GRAMMY.com recently asked artists Demi Lovato, Ashanti, Ariana Grande, Bonnie McKee, and Plain White T's...

Click on image below to watch video

I Want Peace!

"Peace is not just a concept. Peace is a choice."

Subliminal depiction of conflicts due to various cultural differences and ideologies among the peoples in Mindanao. "Dula" is a Visayan term which means play. The kids, the most vulnerable among the victims of these atrocities are playing war games as part of their pastime. At times, they have some quarrels but they always end up having fun together- the innate character of children, that is playful and peace-loving. Nice.
-- winner from peace video contest organized by OPAPP

What Children Teach Us About Peace

"Look to the child. The child is the curriculum, the child is the lesson, the child is the teaching and the learning all in one. We try to facilitate opportunities for the child to have an epiphany, we want the epiphany to be continuous, lifelong really, that their discoveries drive everything that we design as teachers, so really they are the designers"
John Hunter, a keynote speaker at the AMS 2014 Annual Conference and creator of the World Peace Game, shares his thoughts about peace education and how Maria Montessori's ideals of the prepared environment and following the child can lead to new discoveries for students and educators alike. Peace education is a vital component of the Montessori curriculum. The teaching of peace and global citizenship can transform a child's life and lead them to a more fulfilling world view.

Painting Peace with Former Child Soldiers

"A desire of my heart is that from all what we have gone through in Northern Uganda or in Uganda as a whole, we should have leaders who are willing to have a peaceful resolution, whatever conflict is among them"
Exile International (empowering children of war to become leaders for peace) partnered with with Jeremy Cowart to create collaborative art pieces with LRA child survivors that will be sold to fund/support art and rehabilitative care programs through their organization.
Project Goals:
- Fostering a healing art and therapeutic process for 7 children
 - Capturing their story on film to further amplify their stories of healing and reducing stigmas toward former LRA child soldiers within their communities
- Supporting art therapy and rehabilitative care programs in Northern Uganda and DR Congo
“We are seeing them come to life. We are watching them be renewed.” -- Jeremy Cowart

Education innovation in the slums

"Imagine an education system that started from questions, not from knowledge to be imparted, or started from a game, not from a lesson, or started from the premise that you have to engage people first before you can possibly teach them. Our education systems, you do all that stuff afterward, if you're lucky, sport, drama, music. These things, they teach through. They attract people to learning because it's really a dance project or a circus project or, the best example of all -- El Sistema in Venezuela -- it's a music project. And so you attract people through that into learning, not adding that on after all the learning has been done and you've eaten your cognitive greens." 

Charles Leadbeater went looking for radical new forms of education — and found them in the slums of Rio and Kibera, where some of the world's poorest kids are finding transformative new ways to learn. And this informal, disruptive new kind of school, he says, is what all schools need to become.
Charles is a leading authority on innovation and creativity. He has advised companies, cities and governments around the world on innovation strategy and drew on that experience in writing his latest book We-think: the power of mass creativity, which charts the rise of mass, participative approaches to innovation from science and open source software, to computer games and political campaigning. Interesting talk.
-- read about "Innovation in Education: Lessons from Pioneers Around the World"

21st century pedagogy

Brief presentation about the need to develop a new pedagogical dna for schooling in todays world in order to break from the past.
Greg Whitby is an Australian educator. He is the Executive Director of Schools in the Catholic Diocese of Parramatta, NSW. He is the author of Educating Gen Wi-fi, which argues for the need to rethink the nature of learning and teaching in a connected world. Whitby appeared in a public service announcement with Daniel H. Pink (author of Whole New Mind) and other key thinkers on re-imagining schooling for the 21st century.

If students designed their own schools

"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea" 
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

If you could design your own school and study whatever you wanted, what would you choose to learn? This isn't a far-fetched question for students at Monument Mountain Regional High School, who participated in a unique activity called the Independent Project. The program was essentially an "alternative" school within the Massachusetts public high school that's completely run by students -- no teachers, parents, or adults allowed -- and they were in charge of deciding their entire curriculum. (read more on Huffington Post)
-- read on Washington Post
-- read on NY Times



The video below was done by Charles Tsai, director of Learning Networks for Ashoka Canada, a global association of social entrepreneurs. He also works in the area of self-directed education through his organization, Social Creatives.

Nouhoum | Kirina, Mali

Nouhoum is a 15 years old student at l'École de Musique de Kirina, Mali. He studies percussion since the opening of the school in october 2010 and also attends cases in English and French. Nouhoum is a special child, curious and incredibly clever.


Interview with Nouhoum | Kirina, Mali from PlayingForChangeFoundation on Vimeo.

The Power of Music

"The Power of Music" is often revealed through improved learning in math, language and reasoning, increased self-esteem, cooperation, collaboration, and joy.


The Power of Music from PlayingForChangeFoundation on Vimeo.

We Want Peace

"The worst people on earth are not only the ones who commit evil, but those who stand by and turn a blind eye"
We have already talked about Emmanuel Jal and his amazing story. He is a South Sudanese musician, former child soldier, and political activist. His autobiography, War Child: A Child Soldier's Story, was published in 2009.
We Want Peace (WWP) has a simple goal: To raise awareness on the fundamental principles of justice, equality, unification and conflict prevention, through the power of music, worldwide. Spearheaded by Emmanuel, the WWP campaign has gone from strength to strength since launching in December 2010. Kicking off the campaign, and in dedication to Southern Sudan’s historic referendum, Emmanuel released what has become the world wide music hit: ‘We Want Peace’. The uptempo feel good classic brings a sense of appreciation and entertainment to the importance of peace and security.
-- Watch Emmanuel's TED talk

Alive inside

ALIVE INSIDE (winner of the Sundance Film Festival 2014 Audience Award) is a joyous cinematic exploration of music’s capacity to reawaken our souls and uncover the deepest parts of our humanity. Filmmaker Michael Rossato-Bennett chronicles the astonishing experiences of individuals around the country who have been revitalized through the simple experience of listening to music. His camera reveals the uniquely human connection we find in music and how its healing power can triumph where prescription medication falls short. This stirring documentary follows social worker Dan Cohen, founder of the nonprofit organization Music and Memory, as he fights against a broken healthcare system to demonstrate music’s ability to combat memory loss and restore a deep sense of self to those suffering from it. Rossato-Bennett visits family members who have witnessed the miraculous effects of personalized music on their loved ones, and offers illuminating interviews with experts including renowned neurologist and best-selling author Oliver Sacks (Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain) and musician Bobby McFerrin (“Don’t Worry, Be Happy”).


Alive Inside Official Trailer from Alive Inside on Vimeo.

Mphumzi and Ntonga Music School

Mphumzi has been playing drums at the Ntonga music school since the age of ten and was pushed by his uncle, who is a professional Marimba player, to attend the music school. He is now convinced that this instrument is going to change his life and will help him to live a bright future. Mphumzi wants to travel the world to play music and thinks music is helping to reduce crime in the townships. Like most of the children in Gugs, the crime in the township and the lack of jobs worries him and he thinks having more music school would help to improve the situation.

In the spring of 2009, the Playing For Change Foundation opened its first music school in Gugulethu, South Africa, a township ten miles (16 km) outside of Cape Town. Like many of the townships formed during the government-imposed Apartheid that lasted from 1948 to 1994, Gugulethu is a community in need of assistance and inspiration. South Africans are still striving to repair the damage and injustice created during Apartheid, and the Ntonga Music School is setting a strong example of how the country can come together to create a brighter future for its people. Today the people of Gugulethu are full of life and spirit, but have many obstacles to overcome. With drugs, crime, poverty, and disease prevalent in the township, the Ntonga Music School offers hope and possibility for the community and its youth. The Ntonga School is striving to empower the people of Gugulethu by creating positive opportunities for their community, as well as foster a greater connection to the rest of the world through the sharing of their music. The school is working to connect South Africans beyond the boundaries of Gugulethu; it is a source of pride and inspiration not only for the township, but also for the country.

Music Can Stop the War

In 2010 Playing for Change Foundation initiated a program in the village of Katari, about 16 hours via jeep from Kathmandu in eastern Nepal. Every week nearly 20 children gather and study harmonium and musical theory in a tiny former storage room with instruments provided by PFCF. The Nepali people living in the Terai face daily challenges that few of us in the western world could ever imagine, yet learning and performing music often becomes a primary source of healing and rejuvenation. PFCF's vital effort continues to benefit each and every student in an amazing way and it's all because of your support. The children have asked us to represent them. This is their message to you.
-- More info about short documentary here
-- latest news from this program here

Music for Change

In Tintale Village in rural Nepal, Playing for Change has partnered with the Aura Imports Sponsorship Project, which began by building a school there in 2009. With donors' help, music education has been brought to the school. This past year, generous support generated through the PFC Foundation enabled to add two new rooms to the school to expand the music program and create a cyber-café. Through ongoing partnerships the village now has solar power, computers and regular connection to the internet for the first time. Last year, volunteer partners also provided vital medical support to the community. This is utterly inspiring.



"One Love Nepal"



"Kids Care"

El Sistema's top youth orchestra

The Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra contains the best high school musicians from Venezuela's life-changing music program, El Sistema. Led here by Gustavo Dudamel, they play Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10, 2nd movement, and Arturo Márquez' Danzón No. 2.
To put this ensemble's musicianship in context, the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela is the next step for many of these young musicians. That orchestra, containing musicians from 18 to 28 years old, has toured the world with conductor Gustavo Dudamel and has made a number of recordings on Deutsche Grammophon. The Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra is the next level below, and will succeed the Simón Bolívar. Their conductor in this TEDTalk is Gustavo Dudamel, himself a product of the El Sistema. Dudamel conducted the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela for several years, and recently was named the Los Angeles Philharmonic's music director. He also continues to conduct other orchestras around the world. The orchestra's namesake, Teresa Carreño, was a legendary Venezuelan pianist after whom the main theater/concert hall complex in Caracas is also named.



Venezuela's El Sistema brings classical music to Merseyside schoolchildren
Children in one of Britain's poorest areas are embracing orchestral music, inspired by El Sistema, the movement in Venezuela that has sparked a revolution in learning and life.

Bahia Orchestra Project

The Bahia Orchestra Project is a pioneer initiative in Brazil, modeled on the Venezuelan “El Sistema” program. It was founded in 2007 by the Brazilian pianist and conductor Ricardo Castro who remains its artistic and general director. Supported by the Government of Bahia, this orchestra is part of the long-term educational program NEOJIBA (State Youth and Children’s Orchestra Centers of Bahia). The young members of the Bahia Orchestra (ages range from 12-29) are all seasoned performers, having captivated audiences across the United States and Europe. In 2014, the orchestra embarked on a successful three-week tour, bringing audiences to their feet from Arizona to Indianapolis and up the California coast. Education and outreach are key components of the orchestra’s mission, both at home and abroad. The program is dedicated to transforming children’s lives through orchestral music- these young musicians are living proof of the success of this mission. Outreach programs were one of the many highlights of the 2014 tour; the orchestra engaged in activities with middle school and high school students, local youth orchestras as well as various university music programs.
-- read more here
-- youtube

Set for Peace - Peace One Day

Whether you are a producer, DJ, MC or just someone who loves music, play a Set for Peace on Peace Day, 21st September. In a club, at a festival, in a park or in your own home, you can use the power of music to bring people together in the name of peace. By dedicating your set, you are telling the world about Peace Day and encouraging positive action in homes, schools and communities.
LNADJ re-launches it's global initiative SET FOR PEACE with Peace One Day for 2014 - reaching out to all DJs across the globe dedicate their DJ sets on September 21st 2013 to help continue the growing awareness if international PEACE DAY.
-- visit Set for Peace on Peace One Day website

Music Lifting Women out of Poverty in Brazil

The World Bank is working on gender equality. Women's rights are becoming more and more prevalent in the world today. Girls are attending school and closing the gender gap in education. Childbirth rates have been declining showing women are having more reproductive choice. With all the strides made, there is still a ways to go. Women make up the majority of unpaid workers in the world. Only 15% of landowners and one in five lawmakers in the world are women. There are issues with young women giving birth, predominantly in under-developed countries, one in ten are between 15-18 years old. There are still issues with violence against women. An important way to help bring equality is to increase women's economic opportunity and their voice in decision making. This video shows an orchestra in Brazil which, under the leadership of a female maestra, has brought girls and boys together to play music and bring hope to many women (UNITED STATES INSTITUTE OF PEACE)

The power of music to transform conflict

“Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.”
 - Preamble to the UN Declaration of Human Rights

Maybe not the greatest singer, but certainly a truly remarkable and inspiring young man. Aaron Shneyer is the Founder and Executive Director of Heartbeat, a nonprofit social enterprise launched in 2007, which uses music to empower Israeli and Palestinian youth to transform conflict.
Music and creative media offer powerful tools to educate, empower and build respect far beyond physical and psychological barriers. Facing the oncoming migration and resource needs of as many as 1 billion climate refugees by 2050, this presentation highlights the critical role music and creative media can and must play to build mutual-respect and trust across the world. Engaging with the experiences of Heartbeat, audience members will explore the three critical tools for music creation: Listening, Respect, and Responsibility, as a guide for sustainable community building and conflict transformation. Via Heartbeat Israeli and Palestinian youth musicians build critical understanding, develop creative nonviolent tools for social change, amplify their voices to influence the world around them, and in doing so become agents of change.
-- 'Heartbeat' Shares Message of Peace Through Music at the State Department



Bukra Fi Mishmish (When Pigs Fly) is a song by Palestinian And Israeli youth promoting peace and co-existence With lyrics like, "Tomorrow will be better" and "Try to create and believe, yes YOU can," the song is an anthem of optimism in an often dreary landscape.



Hopeless Town -- Words and Music by Rasha Nahas
"you kill / you take / you grow hatred all around / why not grow peaceful generations in this hopeless town / tell me why i'm not asking for a country or a flag / i'm not asking for my land / i cannot translate my pain into a language you'd understand / i can't take it no more / i can't face you no more."

Healing Children through Art

CHAP: Children's Healing Art Project 
A film directed, produced, and edited by Amy Ouellette, Katherine Bascom, and Benjamin Hovland, 2010 fellows of the Northwest Institute for Social Change. Extremely inspiring, please watch!



NHK Documentary: Healing Children through Art
This documentary is a message of hope, support, encouragement and love for the children living in the disaster stricken area of Tohoku. Ms. Harumi Torii, Founder of Kids Earth Fund, believes in the healing power of creative activities. She holds variety of events to help children in the disaster area to freely express their feelings through painting. One day she shows some children a big canvas and encourages them to complete a painting of artistic messages from children around the world. This is a story of how traumatized children reacted and were comforted through heart to heart exchanges with the world.



Healing and Learning through Art and Music
In Malawi, children fail to succeed in school because of the stress from poverty and traumatic events, like losing a parent to AIDS. Meet three children—Roster, Enock and Rafael—who are enrolled in Save the Children's Healing and Education through the Arts (HEART) program in Malawi. Through painting, music, drama, and other art forms, HEART helps children overcome emotional trauma and find new ways to share their feelings and fears, so they can express themselves in a safe environment and thrive in the classroom.

Action Science - how to make science relevant to kids

Often, students will ask their teacher, "What is the point of this?" or "Why are we doing this anyway?" They want to know exactly how the material they're learning in class will apply to their everyday lives because, at times, it seems disconnected from what they do. Physical science concepts are often taught quite traditionally in school, and in an almost clinical manner, isolated to a specific circumstance within a classroom. This is what disconnects the tools and the content from the students' experiences. There is a real need for educators to explore and connect content in settings that are both authentic and relatable for students. "Action Science" aims at making science real to students and makes learning relatable -- read more on Edutopia
Skate veteran and educator Bill Robertson, also known as "Dr. Skateboard," teaches students who might have otherwise fallen through the cracks about speed, velocity, and momentum at the local skate park. Bill is an educator for more than 20 years and has taught at the middle school, high school, and university levels. His academic areas of expertise are in science education, curriculum development, and technology integration for K–12.

Changing traditional education: Project-based learning

"Inquiry-driven and project-based learning makes sense for today's learners because it gives them the opportunity to connect the work they do in school with the larger world around them. We must stop saying that school is "preparation for real life" and acknowledge that school is real life for the kids while they are in it. Project-based learning allows that to happen in powerful, meaningful ways" -- Chris Lehmann
Project-based learning is a dynamic approach to teaching in which students explore real-world problems and challenges. With this type of active and engaged learning, students are inspired to obtain a deeper knowledge of the subjects they're studying. Confucius and Aristotle were early proponents of learning by doing. Socrates modeled how to learn through questioning, inquiry, and critical thinking -- all strategies that remain very relevant in today's PBL classrooms. Well-designed PBL has been shown to result in deeper learning and engaged, self-directed learners.

The Role of Policy in Education

"I do feel strongly and passionately that education is the most important gift that we can give to people. That every individual can be transformed with the right educational opportunity."
"The real role of policy, I believe, is to create a climate in which innovation is possible and self-determination encouraged. Because however committed politicians may be, at whatever level they operate, to school improvement, they are not going to be doing it. That's the work of principals and of teachers and of parents and of students in the system".
Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.
-- Watch Ken Robinson’s TED talks

The Art of Teaching

"At the heart of all great professions is a deeper power of connoisseurship. It's true of great musicians, it's true of all virtuosi, that they know what is appropriate here and now. And great teachers are like that, they have a repertory of skills and possibilities and knowledge, but their skill is to apply it here and now, with you, to know what would be appropriate. So I believe it's both personally essential that we have forms of education which are humane and balanced, and liberal and sensitive and tolerant, but I believe it is a global imperative at the same time."
Sir Ken Robinson is an English author, speaker, and international advisor on education in the arts to government, non-profits, education, and arts bodies.

Educating Children For The Journey

Our world is changing at a rapid and dramatic pace. Every decade brings technological advances and unforeseen social change. So how can we prepare our children for a world we can't envision? The best way to do that is to educate our children to develop three essential capacities: a capacity for vibrant and vigorous activity, a capacity for a sensitive and yet resilient emotional life, and a capacity for clear, focused, original, thinking. In order to develop these three capacities, we must educate our children in a multidimensional way in school. The place to begin is through self-directed play with the young child. Play is the wonderfully creative work of early childhood. When young children play, they are focused, attentive, and completely involved in what they are doing. This is a characteristic of genius and innovative individuals often keep this playful nature intact throughout their lives. The second way to educate children for the future is through art. In the grade school it is possible to teach all of the academic subjects in a manner that integrates art. In doing so we create an educational program that addresses a child's need to be engaged imaginatively and emotionally in each lesson. When we teach children through a foundation of active play and a solid framework of artistic experiences, we help them develop the third essential ability, a capacity for dynamic, curious, and original thinking, a thinking that enables our children to ask the questions that are still waiting to be asked.
Jack Petrash is the founder and director of the Nova Institute. He is an educator with over thirty years of classroom experience and has written extensively on issues pertaining to innovative classroom instruction.
Beautiful heartfelt talk.

Music is a powerful instrument for positive change

"Music is a unifying energy, we can bring people together, those who can help and those who need help...Give those who are in need a stage to present their cause to a greater public, give those who want to help a concrete project to work with. We can turn our business into a tremendous source of happiness, not just for ourselves, or those who love music, but also for the expansion of a greater well being, for humanity and for our planet, one tree at a time. Music is an universal language shared by all of us, but it is also a powerful instrument of positive change."
Graduated from Rice University in the United States and from the Academy of Lausanne, Zhang Zhang shows us with enjoyment and dignity, that over the events of our lives, music is a tremendous universal tool in the service of the positive change.
Zhang Zhang is member of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo of Monaco. Founder of ZHANGOMUSIQ and the Zhang Zhang Band. Founding member of The Monaco string Quartet with principle players of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo. Member of Ensemble Exploration of Roel Dieltiens, including the participation of an award winning recording for Harmonia Mundi.
Very gracious lady and amazing story.

Music and hope

"Music makes us more hopeful...music lifts our mood, it paints this environment for us, it is what my friend calls the sonic wallpaper of your experience at the moment"
"You are living by music...Music has great power even then..to deliver healthiness, safety and security and fulfillment and hopefulness and you don't even know it"
"Hey music with you we know we can change the world"
Tayloe Harding is a passionate advocate for the impact of higher education music study on American communities and national society and is devoted to an array of organizations whose missions are consistent with this vision.

Peace on Earth

"Every child must be made aware/Every child must be made to care/Care enough for his fellow man/To give all the love that he can"
Music video by Bing Crosby and David Bowie performing The Little Drummer Boy / Peace On Earth - unusual Bowie!



"Heaven on Earth/We need it now/I'm sick of all of this/Hanging around" 
U2 - Peace On Earth/Walk On (from "America: A Tribute to Heroes")

Ralph Schuckett on music education

"Learning music is really great for kids self esteem..the kids learn to be aware of each other..they learn to listen and to be a team. That's one aspect of music education in schools that I think it is really valuable"
Ralph Schuckett is an American keyboardist, songwriter, record producer and TV/film composer. He has played with Carole King, Lou Reed, Todd Rundgren and Utopia, and, as a studio musician on albums by Carole King, James Taylor, Whitney Houston, George Benson, Donna Summer, Richie Havens, Patty Smyth, and many others. His String and Brass Arrangements can be heard on recordings by Billy Joel, George Benson, Michael Bolton, Joan Osborne, Bette Midler, Bonnie Tyler, Graham Parker and others. In this short clip he discusses music education, his background and the importance of providing these educational opportunities to children.