For Our Musicians

Music brings many beautiful and wonderful things into our lives. It has been true since the beginning of time. The people who create music are a truly special breed, particularly those who spend years and years studying a craft and even passing the skills and love of that craft onto children.

Personally, music doesn't just touch our family's life. It is a foundation, a root, a core of the way we live. Since they were babies, we have done our best to expose and teach our children about music and I truly believe that my kids' intelligence, love of math and exceptional creativity are a direct result of our efforts.

Furthermore, musicians have made an indelible impact on our family, particularly musicians from the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra and the Centenary Suzuki School.

Violin lessons aren't just one more of the many activities we pursue. Our study of violin is an inherit part of the value-based way we have planned to raise our children. Their Suzuki teachers haven't just taught them the difference between a sharp and a flat. They have taught them about discipline, joy, commitment and even love.

One of my proudest moments as a parent was at an orientation for parents new to the Suzuki program. The director Laura Crawford asked each of my children to play a solo, just as an example of what can be expected of a young Suzuki student.

Before my son began to play, Ms. Crawford stood before the group and said, “For those of you who wonder what a little boy can really do in violin, this is it.”

My kids don't just enjoy playing violin at home. They revel in the chance to get up on stage and play in front of adults and peers. As a parent it is absolutely amazing to sit back and watch your children shine with such self-confidence.

That is a gift from their teachers. It is a gift that will serve my children well as we move across the country and find roots in a new hometown.

Most of the Centenary Suzuki School teachers are also musicians with the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra. I was so distressed to hear about the drastic pay cut for the symphony players that has been in the news. I believe that it is a proposed 75% pay cut!

I would hate to see Shreveport lose its wonderful symphony, but I can't imagine why a musician would stay here to play when they can move on to a place where they can afford to live on their salary. Not only would Shreveport lose a talented group of artists, it would lose a part of it's culture. Great cities don't stay great when the artists start to flee for better prospects.

But even more, I would hate to see our children lose such a valuable resource. Symphony musicians and Suzuki teachers have been part of the village to raise our children. Words like beautiful and wonderful can't even begin to describe the contributions they have made to our children's lives.