What crops up over and over again is that music is an integral part of life, not an add-on.

Yesterday I received, as if from heaven, a recorded collection of informal chats featuring my childhood piano and organ teacher, Chauncey L. Griffith--a hugely influential populist-musician whose wonderful work inspired much of my professional life, especially my work with adult amateurs at Mannes College. (Chauncey died 30 years ago, so it really was from heaven.)

It brought home to me just how powerful the influences are when a drive as central as music is involved. How powerful the outcome, whether positive or negative, is a measure of the power of the drive.