“The ability to focus is a key skill developed through ensemble work. Keeping a balance between listening and contributing involves a great deal of concentration and focus. It requires each participant to not only think about their role, but how their role contributes to the big picture of what is being created. Recent research has shown that participation in the arts improves children’s abilities to concentrate and focus in other aspects of their lives.”

~ Lisa Phillips, “The artistic edge: 7 skills children need to succeed in an increasingly right brain world,” ARTSblog, Americans for the Arts, 2013.