Those words, spoken by Barack Obama in an April 2008 speech in Wallingford, Penn., capture the essence of our belief in the critical importance of arts education.

Yet over the years, arts education programs across Montana have suffered from repeated funding cuts.

We won’t stand by and see our children miss out on this crucial aspect of their enrichment. We also recognize that even some adults today have never experienced the beauty and richness of opera.

We aim to reverse these troubling trends in our communities. Our approach is based on a belief that opera can be enjoyed by anyone, in any environment, so long as it is presented with high artistic standards and a low threshold for engagement.

Already, this approach is being put to work through such programs as our annual Summer Opera Camp, now in its second year; our original adaptation of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, which toured schools around western Montana during the spring of 2009 (at no cost to the schools!); and Opera on Draft, a series of events that brings operatic music to area nightclubs for a relaxed, irreverent night of great music.