Musical Entrepreneurs

I have a friend who took a great idea and carried it to fruition in an example of great American entrpreneurship. We all hear stories frequently about people who pursue their dreams to start their own businesses, or to multiply their success by opening new locations, only to fall short. It seems that the successful entrepreneur is the exception to the rule, and the failure is the rule.

So this is a story worth telling; a guy has a great idea to provide a needed service. He gets the right people involved, and gets them to believe in his vision. He works very hard to make it happen. And it succeeds beyond his wildest expectations.

Here's the unusual part. This great exhibition of business acumen didn't produce a dime in profit, nor was there any financial profit motivation behind the idea or the business plan. This was much bigger than that. The profit came in bringing singing opportunities to the school children of a town in south Alabama, where successive budget cuts had eliminated them.

This great idea, which eventually came to be known as "Encore", was simple: children need the joy of singing, and they also need the side-effects of improved creativity and higher order thinking, participation in group activity that is non-competitive, knowledge of the American folk-song canon, and myriad other benefits.

My friend, Terry Taylor, started as a volunteer in a local school. He would go to the school and sing, play recorders, and teach about music once a week. Feeling the strain of exhaustion after several years, he wanted to find a way to multiply his efforts. So he decided that a team of volunteers could accomplish that goal, and the strain of exhaustion he was feeling paled in comparison to the hard work that lay ahead as "Encore" was born.

At its heart, entrepreneurism consists of an "idea" person who gets a vision for a new enterprise, and a "manager" who comes into the picture to help carry out the project in a way that becomes viable. This is the model that was followed with "Encore." Once Terry had articulated the vision, the details began to be managed by a professional organizer, a local music educator, a local principal, and the leader of the local Cultural Arts Center. All of them embraced the vision and worked to make their part of it successful. And 150 volunteers emerged from all over the community to establish the work force necessary to carry out the vision.

Consequently, every one of 4000 children in the school system got to sing and dance. Teachers reported improved behavior and learning. PTA's reported higher attendance. And the school system, seeing the great benefits of "Encore", announced that they would hire music educators for these elementary schools.

As a result of the vision of one man, and the hard work of a team of volunteers, a community rose up and gave their children the gift of singing.

But that happy ending is only the beginning. Last weekend a group of interested leaders in the American Choral Directors Association gathered (at their own expense, mirroring "Encore") and asked a panel of the "Encore" leaders from Dothan, Alabama, to give a presentation about their successful program. The panel gave a concise and articulate picture of what it took to give singing to their children.

The ACDA leaders hope to embrace "Encore" and similar ideas that have come from a ground-swell of interest in meaningful educational improvement around the country. They believe that ACDA can become a catalyst for this kind of effort around the country, and are seeking ways to make it happen.

It is worth noting that members of our society don't do anything without music; we don't work, play, worship, drive, watch tv, or even listen to a voicemail answer the phone without a tune attached. In fact, even though all our actions lead to the obvious conclusion that music is very important to us, the only activity we regularly seek to accomplish without music is learning. It is unlikely that success will come from eliminating music from our children's most formative activity.

The "Encore" story illustrates that representatives from every part of the community recognized that the elimination of music from the curriculum was problematic, including the school administrators who had been forced to make that choice due to poor funding. And it also illustrates that one person's vision, translated into effective action, could change the situation. All of us who care deeply about the arts in our society can learn from this example, and move from passively watching in despair to actively seeking to become part of the solution.