Petition's Progress: Musical Giants Add Their Signatures and Support

MENC's Petition for Equal Access to Music Education got a boost on May 21 with two new signatures--those of noted jazz and pop music leaders Quincy Jones and Herbie Hancock. Both men were in New York to receive American Eagle Awards from the National Music Council. 


Herbie Hancock and John Mahlmann look on as Quincy Jones signs the Petition.

And both gave moving testimony to the importance of music education to sustain and rejuvenate our culture. “Young people are indeed the future,” said Hancock. Added Jones, “We [the music community] need to lead our country to take the music more seriously in our society and in our schools."

"Added to the more than 100,000 signatures collected to date, and the additional signatures arriving on paper and over the Web daily, these signatures should really help us make our point with the Secretary of Education and members of Congress,” said MENC Executive Director John Mahlmann, Chairman of the Board and newly-elected President of the National Music Council.

The petitions will be presented to Department of Education officials on June 18 at the Rally for Music Education in Washington, DC. 

Photo by Earl Hurrey

--Elizabeth Lasko, May 22, 2009. © MENC: The National Association for Music Education