Music Matters has been developed in direct response to the demand from educators scrambling to replace programs cut by the State budget crisis. These educators know the principles of teamwork, creativity, discipline, and leadership first introduced in music education carry over into the careers of tomorrow's leaders in engineering, science, education, business, and government. Music education is especially critical to the success of Silicon Valley where creativity is particularly vital to the next technological wave to fuel our regional economy.
James Caterall, UCLA Professor of Education and one of the nation's leading researchers of the effects of the arts on curriculum education, states unequivocally 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." Involvement in the Arts and Human Development: General Involvement and Intensive Involvement In Music and Theater Arts, 1999. In another essay, The Arts and the Transfer of Learning, Caterall states, "Nowhere in the spectrum of arts learning effects on cognitive functioning are impacts more clear than in the rich archive of studies that show connections between music learning or musical experiences and the fundamental cognitive capability called spatial reasoning." Caterall goes on to explain that special reasoning forms the backbone of all learning, from language decoding and acquisition, to planning and organizing abilities, to mathematic concepts such as fractions and proportions.
According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, a Texas Commission on Drug and Alcohol Abuse report showed that "secondary students who participated in band or orchestra reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances," (alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs). In 1998, the College Board reported the college-bound seniors who'd had school music experience scored 52 points higher on the verbal portion of their SAT's and 37 points higher on math (89 points combined) than those without arts instruction.
San Jose Youth Symphony inherently subscribes to this view and provides intensive and professional level training in orchestral music. Further, SJYS is uniquely placed to provide for the development of music skills among its young musicians, as well as non-music students, through its extensive reach into the community through its concerts, education programs, and events.
