Help Find the "Best 100 Communities for Music Education" for 2006

BUENA PARK, Calif. (January 20, 2006)—Where are the best places in America for music-conscious parents to raise their children? For the seventh year in a row, Yamaha, the American Music Conference (AMC) and a partnership of other leading music and education groups are using a national survey to find out.

The seventh annual “Best 100 Communities for Music Education” survey is currently accepting online submissions, and will remain open through early March. The survey, which can be completed by visiting AMC on the Web at www.amc-music.org, is open to anyone who wishes to enter information about his or her school district.

Each year since 2000, the “Best 100” survey has used a series of questions designed by music education experts to measure each community’s commitment to music through spending, staffing, variety of programs, instructor certification, availability of private instruction and other criteria. The results are measured proportionally, so that communities of different sizes are compared on an equal footing.

The survey’s sponsors encourage people either to complete the survey themselves, or to pass the link along to school administrators and independent educators in their communities who may best be able to fill in all the required data.

“Children who have the opportunity to participate in quality school-based music programs have a number of advantages over children who don’t,” says AMC Associate Executive Director Laura Johnson. “Studies show that making music helps young children perform better on standardized tests, and teens benefit academically and socially from active participation in music. Through the ‘Best 100’ survey, we highlight the places in America where school music is being done right.”

Following a careful audit of the preliminary data, the 2006 “Best 100” list will be released later in March.

In conducting the annual survey, Yamaha and AMC are joined by a partnership of key organizations in the fields of music and education: MENC-The National Association for Music Education (www.menc.org), The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation (www.mhopus.org), The Music for All Foundation (www.music-for-all.org), The Music Teachers National Association (www.mtna.org), The National School Boards Association (www.nsba.org) Perseus Development Corp. (www.perseus.com) and VH1 Save The Music Foundation (www.vh1savethemusic.com).

For more information on Yamaha programs and products, write Yamaha Corporation of America, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; e-mail infostation@yamaha.com or visit www.yamaha.com.