Just some random thought that occured to me today as I was listening to a story about the Vermont Youth Orchestra's trip to Carnegie Hall this coming Tuesday (Sept. 14th). The Music Director, Troy Peters , is a good friend of mine, he was my best man at my wedding and I've known him since high school from our own days in the Tacoma Youth Symphony. As I was listening to this story, I was struck by how well the orchestra sounded, and how positive and upbeat the kids were, and at how much of a difference that Troy has made in these current kids' and all the previous kids' in the VYO lives. He gets an immediate indication of what he is doing and how it translates to people's lives. As an orchestral musician, it is hard to get a read on how you are affecting people, and even if you do, you are doing it as a part of a larger, corporate, body. I know that playing great works of orchestral music has a positive impact on society in a theoretical, long-term, sense. But impact does it have in the short-term? Something to think about...