Art should grow with you,” declares Mark Slavkin, VP for Education at the Music Center – Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County. He heads the education programs offered by the Music Center that reach about 300 schools yearly. Pushing to bring art to the fore of general education, the music center programs are an integral part of restoring the arts to the core curriculum of schools in Los Angeles County.

Music Center programs focus on three main areas of education: to strengthen arts education in their partner schools, provide leadership to advance the field of arts education and engage children, youth and families at the Music Center. Ultimately, they aim to instill a sense of belongingness in the arts, in the hearts of the young. By making it fun and free, thereby accessible, they hope to plant the seeds of a relationship with the arts that will grow as the child grows.

When singer Lea Salonga kicked off the first ever Global Pop Series at the Walt Disney Concert Hall two weeks ago, it was a spectacular performance by a great Philippine artist for the Filipino community for many. But for the execs of The Music Center, it was the culmination of a long-awaited experimental project.

The Music Center’s Vice President of Programming and Planning Josephine Ramirez had waited four years for the Global Pop Series to come into fruition.  The idea was to attract immigrant communities to watch their country’s top artists and more importantly, the funds from the shows would go directly to the Music Center’s non-profit Active Arts programs.