make no mistake, every artistic vocation whether it is music, dance, painting, literature, the moving image or architecture is vitally important to the fabric of our country's history and deserves to be protected, promoted and nurtured
via Quincy Jones
In other news, the Harvard School of Public Health and the Quincy Jones Foundation will present this year???s Q prize to the leaders of El Sistema:
Quincy Jones commented, "I am honored to join with Harvard in presenting this year's Q Prize to Maestro Dudamel and his mentor Dr. Abreu for their dedicated work on behalf of the children of Venezuela through El Sistema. Throughout my life I have been able to witness firsthand the power of music to bring forth change in the lives of those less fortunate, and the work of El Sistema is a glowing example of the magnitude of that power around the world. I eagerly anticipate furthering the message of music as a tool for bringing young people together in a common cause for mankind when we convene the National Music Summit next year in New York. Music is the only thing that engages the left and right brain simultaneously - it's soul and science.
"It tore my heart apart that on this day that my alma mater was naming a building after me, that this young man had no idea who the men were that put me on their shoulders and helped shaped who I was as a young musician. Men who will forever stand at the foundation of popular music, and who I believe in years to come will be regarded as America's Chopins, Griegs and Tchaikovskys."